


‘Just Friends’

by flicks



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Friends With Benefits, M/M, Miscommunication, shyan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-12
Updated: 2019-11-12
Packaged: 2021-01-29 07:33:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21406501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flicks/pseuds/flicks
Summary: “But Ryan, we’re just friends”“Bullshit Shane!” Ryan hissed, “We’re not just friends”“Ryan-““No Shane, I don’t want to hear your shitty excuses, you and I both know we are way past the term ‘friends’”Or Ryan says that three letter phrase that knocks Shane of his tracks and tells Ryan what he thinks.
Relationships: Ryan Bergara/Shane Madej
Comments: 11
Kudos: 66





	‘Just Friends’

**Author's Note:**

> this is in no way to harm shane and ryan’s current relationships

Ryan awoke to warm, fluffy sheets surrounding his body. Ryan smiled to himself, and snuggled further into the cozy duvet, never wanting to get out of bed. He reached his arm out to the other side of the bed, only to feel cold sheets, the coolness soon reflecting how he was feeling.

Opening his eyes, he sat up and only realized that he was alone. 

Finally, after yawning and stretching, he lazily put on a grey sweatshirt, and made his way to the bathroom. 

After he washed his face, he grabbed his toothbrush and started to brush his teeth, smiling to himself when he caught a glimpse of the forest green toothbrush tucked into the toothbrush holder. 

When he finished brushing his teeth, the smell of bacon and eggs made its way through his apartment. 

Stumbling his way to the kitchen, he was greeted with the sight of Shane standing by the cooker in one of Ryan’s hoodies and a pair of Ryan’s sweatpants which were way too short on the tall, gangly man, the cuffs ending mid-calf. Ryan couldn’t stop the chuckle escape his lips, even if he warned to. 

Shane turned around, hair a mess on top his head, “Mornin’ sleepyhead”.

“Mornin bedhead,” Ryan retorted, making his way to Shane’s side, “What ya cookin’?” 

“Breakfast, what does it look like?” quipped Shane. 

Ryan made his way to the fridge, pulling out orange juice, “Okay smartass, I don’t need to hear you sarcastic comments this early in the morning”. 

“You know you love it, baby” Shane snorted, shaking his head in amusement.

Ryan just rolled his eyes, both him and Shane knowing his answer. He sat on one of the chairs at the kitchen, resting his chin on his palm, admiring Shane cooking in his kitchen. Seeing Shane pitter and patter around in his kitchen, knowing exactly where everything was made his chest feel warm, yet a lingering heavy feeling was there.

Shane turned the cooker off, and brought two plates to the table, setting one in front of Ryan, and the other opposite him.

Taking the seat opposite Ryan, Shane began to pour the juice into his and Ryan’s glass.

“Thanks” smiled Ryan, grabbing his knife and fork and tearing into his breakfast.

“No problem” replied Shane, setting his glass down after he took a drink.

They sat in silence, the only noise being the sound of them eating and drinking. The two of them kept stealing glances at each other, Ryan giving Shane loving stares, but Shane was giving Ryan a look that even Ryan couldn’t place his finger on. 

Just when Ryan was about to ask Shane what he wanted to watch on TV, Shane gave him a look which stopped Ryan’s whole train of thought.

He gulped, “What”.

“Ryan,” Shane sighed, “We have to talk about last night, you do know that”.

Ryan felt his stomach drop, understanding why he felt uneasy all morning, “Do we have to? Can’t we just pretend it never happened?” 

“We both know we can’t do that, Ryan” Shane repeated, lip twitching slightly.

“I know,” huffed Ryan, “I just... don’t want to ruin things between us”.

“And I feel the same Ryan, but,” Shane took a breath, “We’re just friends”.

Friends. The one word Ryan hated to hear come from Shane’s mouth. 

They were both tipsy that night, the night this all started. The low light of the bar making Shane’s features a lot more prominent. They were the only ones left, everyone else leaving and calling it a night. By Ryan’s third beer, he was all but draped over Shane’s lap, lips pressing sloppily to Shane’s neck. Thirty minutes later, they were in a Lyft, hands running up and down he others side, lips an uncoordinated mess. Both decided to stay at Shane’s place, as it was closer than Ryan’s, and the two of them fell into Shane’s bed, unceremoniously. 

The following morning, Ryan awoke to a banging headache, stomach feeling as if he was just stabbed hundreds of times. Ryan turned to the bedside table, only to see a bottle of water and some Advil pills to take. Ryan took them gratefully, and made his way to Shane’s living room, the man sitting on the couch and a mug of coffee in his hand.

Ryan popped himself next to Shane, snuggling up to his side, and the two of them talked about last night. Both had agreed that last night was amazing, and that they’d like to do it again. 

It was that night their friendship had changed from friends to friends with benefits.

Frequently going out with each other, staying multiple nights at the others apartment, and of course falling into bed together. 

Everything had been great, until last night. 

They had just got home from a fancy restaurant, both slightly drunk from the bottle of wine they both polished down. 

Falling into Ryan’s couch, Shane was on top, kissing Ryan so hard their teeth clanked together. 

Ryan was in pure bliss, the feeling of Shane’s tongue in his mouth and Shane’s thigh pressing between Ryan’s.

Ryan began to mouth at Shane’s jaw, when he muttered those three words that potentially ruined their relationship.

“I love you”.

Shane had noticeably stiffened against Ryan, and the silence in the air was more than uncomfortable. 

Shane pulled himself back and gave Ryan an incredulous look. 

“I-,” Shane stuttered, “Are you sure?” 

Ryan knew his answer in a heartbeat.

“Yes”.

“Ryan,” whimpered Shane, “You’re drunk”.

“I may have had a couple glasses of wine,” Ryan hiccuped, “But I mean it”.

Shane bit his lip, and brought his attention to the pair of boots Ryan had in corner of the room, he took a large gulp of air and muttered, “We’ll talk about this in the morning, Ry”.

“Whatever you say, Big Guy” yawned Ryan, tangling his arms around Shane’s neck, and his legs around his waist. 

Ryan was suddenly snapped back into reality when he felt Shane’s foot nudge his ankle, waiting for a response. 

“What’s there to talk about” Ryan mumbled.

“Ryan, this is huge!” shrieked Shane, “Did you honestly mean it? Or was it the alcohol?” 

Ryan started to play with the sleeves on his sweatshirt and kept his gaze on his hands, “I told you last night, the alcohol had nothing to do with it”.

Chancing a look at Shane’s face, he saw that the man’s face was visibly conflicted, eyes widened.

“Ryan, I,” Shane started to pull at his hair, an obvious sign of stress, “I thought we were just friends”.

Ryan bit down on his tongue, struggling to contain his sobs.

“Unless I read it wrong, or you told me we were more-“ 

“Shane, you’re implying that we’re more, but you’re continuously telling me we’re just friends” Ryan interrupted.

“Isn’t that what you want?” Shane’s eyes pierced right into Ryan’s, “More than friends?”

Ryan’s throat was dry and he cleared his throat, “Well, yeah”.

“But Ryan, we’re just friends” Shane exclaimed, his voice in exasperation.

“Bullshit Shane!” Ryan hissed, “We’re not just friends”.

“Ryan-“

“No Shane, I don’t want to hear your shitty excuses, you and I both know we are way past the term ‘friends’” ranted Ryan.

Shane opened his mouth, only to close it again when no words came out, he bumped his knee against Ryan’s, silently encouraging him to go on.

“‘Just friends’ don’t hold hands during the movies at the cinema, ‘just friends’ don’t cuddle against each other while telling their deepest secrets at 3am, ‘just friends’ don’t go out for brunch being totally hungover, sharing soft, knowing glances. ‘Just friends’ don’t do this shit, Shane. You know this”. Ryan felt his eyes water and his chest tighten. He felt as if he was drowning, water engulfing his whole body.

Shane reached across the table and placed his hand on Ryan’s wrist, rubbing his thumb over Ryan’s pulse soothingly.

“Ryan,” Shane sighed, “I’m sorry if I made you feel more”.

Ryan suddenly couldn’t take it anymore, jerking his wrist out of Shane’s grasp.

“If you really claim that we’re ‘just friends’, then you need to stop with the gentle touches, as well as the affectionate nicknames” snapped Ryan.

Shane’s eyes widened and he was clenching his jaw, “Ryan, I’ve always done this. Way before we started this,” Shane warned, “I’m not just going to stop doing this because you’re being an asshole”.

“Asshole? How the hell am I the asshole?” barked Ryan, trying his best to not breakdown, though his voice cracking was betraying him.

“You’re sitting here yelling at me, and being all pissy about this, even though you’re the one who caught feelings. I’m trying to help sort this out” Shane began to drum his fingers against the table, a habit Ryan knew all too well the taller man would do when stressed.

“I’m not yelling and I’m not being pissy” Ryan grumbled, looking down at his half full glass of orange juice. 

“Talk to me,” reasoned Shane, “Tell me what’s wrong”.

Ryan felt Shane’s gaze stare intently on him, refusing to look up. The room was silent for a second time that morning. Ryan noticed his hot tears slide down his face, burning his cheeks and landing on his sweatshirt, leaving dark grey stains. Then, to fill in the silence, Ryan sobbed out loudly, his lips trembling. 

As always, Shane was by Ryan’s side in a flash, kneeling down and pulling Ryan’s chair around so he was facing him. 

“Ryan,” Shane comforted, placing a hand on his knee and squeezing, “Please, tell me what’s wrong”

“I don’t want to ruin us” 

Shane used his other hand to wipe away Ryan’s tears, “What do you mean?” 

Ryan subconsciously moved into the touch, feeling his heart break, resulting another sob to escape his lips. 

Shane rubbed his thumb over Ryan’s cheek, calming Ryan down as much as he could. 

What was probably seconds, felt like minutes to Ryan, he felt his nerves still and his anxiety subdue. 

“I don’t want you to leave me, you know,” Ryan hiccuped, “I don’t want you to leave, just because I confessed to loving you” 

Shane was about to reply when Ryan rambled on.

“Although if you do leave, I understand. And I understand if you’re mad at me. But please Shane, don’t let this ruin Unsolved. Even if you hate me, you can pretend to like me on camera, so it doesn’t get awkward, and the fans don’t suspect anything, do our usual bickering and bantering,” Ryan rubbed his hands over his face, “God Shane, I don’t know if I could handle you not liking me. I love what we have going on, and I love our dynamic. But I understand if you don’t like me anymore. I don’t know how, but I’ll survive”. The last phrase Ryan whispered, almost whimpered, and more fresh tears had made their way down his face and onto Shane’s hand, which was still caressing his cheek. 

“Ryan, why would this make me hate you?” Shane asked.

“‘Cause I like you more than a friend”.

Shane’s breath hitched, and it was then Ryan realized he hadn’t actually confessed his feelings to Shane. 

Ryan studied Shane’s face, looking for any sign of regret or pity. Instead he saw Shane bite his bottom lip thoughtfully, his attention on his hand which was still on Ryan’s knee. 

“It’s okay, you’re okay, we’re okay” claimed Shane, bringing his hand from Ryan’s knee to the smaller mans cheek, cupping his face delicately.

“How can you be so sure?” croaked Ryan, staring intently into Shane’s amber eyes.

“‘Cause it’s us, Ry,” Shane smiled gently, “We’ll always pull through, we’re the ghoul boys”.

Ryan teared up at Shane saying that. Shane confirming to Ryan that they’ll be okay was all the affirmation Ryan needed to hear. Another ugly sob came out of Ryan, and he fell stiffly into Shane’s lap. 

Shane was quick to wrap his arms around Ryan, stroking his hands up and down Ryan’s sides. 

“Shhhh, it’s okay” Shane repeated, whispering softly into Ryan’s ear.

Ryan snuggled his face into the crook where Shane’s neck met his shoulder, whimpering quietly. 

As time went on, Ryan’s whimpering subdued and his tears lessened. What felt like hours, Ryan lifted his head out his hiding spot, meeting Shane’s affectionate gaze. 

Once Ryan made eye contact with Shane, he knew everything would be fine. Even if he felt as if everything was crumbling around him, Shane’s stare and small smile gave Ryan hope.

A chuckle seemed to bubble it’s way out of Ryan’s throat. The mental image of him and Shane sitting on his kitchen floor, tangled up with each other. Nestling again into Shane’s neck, he closed his eyes and steadied his breathing. He reminded himself once more that everything would be okay.

It was Shane and Ryan, they could pull through anything, because it was them. The ghoul boys.

**Author's Note:**

> haha i hoped you enjoyed reading this! this is my first fic into writing about these two goofballs. i really love the dynamic between these boys so i wrote this. thank you for reading!


End file.
